Article
Who was Muhammad?
Muhammad is the man Muslims call the Messenger of God and the seal of the prophets. He was born in Mecca, moved to Medina in 622, and died there on 8 June 632.
On this page
Muhammad is the man Muslims call the Messenger of God and the last of the prophets. Muslim sources place his birth in Mecca, his move to Medina in 622, and his death in Medina on 8 June 632.
Key points
- Qur’an 33:40
Muḥammad is not the father of [any] one of your men, but [he is] the Messenger of Allāh and seal [i.e., last] of the prophets. And ever is Allāh, of all things, Knowing.
Qur’an 33:40 · Saheeh InternationalOpen on quran.com ↗ calls him the Messenger of God and the seal of the prophets. - Qur’an 3:144
Muḥammad is not but a messenger. [Other] messengers have passed on before him. So if he was to die or be killed, would you turn back on your heels [to unbelief]? And he who turns back on his heels will never harm Allāh at all; but Allāh will reward the grateful.
Qur’an 3:144 · Saheeh InternationalOpen on quran.com ↗ calls him a messenger who could die or be killed, and Qur’an 46:9Say, "I am not something original among the messengers, nor do I know what will be done with me or with you. I only follow that which is revealed to me, and I am not but a clear warner."
Qur’an 46:9 · Saheeh InternationalOpen on quran.com ↗ has him say he does not know what will be done with him. - Ibn Ishaq, page 68 says his father died while his mother was still pregnant, and page 73 says his grandfather died when he was eight.
- Watt’s Encyclopaedia Britannica biography dates the call to about 610, the Hijra to 622, and the death to 8 June 632 in Medina.
- Christians confess the Jesus whom Thomas calls Lord and God in John 20:28
And Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God.
John 20:28 · King James Version. They do not receive Muhammad as a prophet. What do Christians believe about Muhammad?
What the Qur’an says about him
Qur’an 33:40Muḥammad is not the father of [any] one of your men, but [he is] the Messenger of Allāh and seal [i.e., last] of the prophets. And ever is Allāh, of all things, Knowing.
Qur’an 33:40 · Saheeh InternationalOpen on quran.com ↗ (Saheeh International) says:
Muḥammad is not the father of [any] one of your men, but [he is] the Messenger of Allāh and seal [i.e., last] of the prophets. And ever is Allāh, of all things, Knowing.
Qur’an 33:40 · Saheeh International
Qur’an 33:21There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allāh an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allāh and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allāh often.
Qur’an 33:21 · Saheeh InternationalOpen on quran.com ↗ (Saheeh International) calls him the pattern:
There has certainly been for you in the Messenger of Allāh an excellent pattern for anyone whose hope is in Allāh and the Last Day and [who] remembers Allāh often.
Qur’an 33:21 · Saheeh International
Qur’an 3:144Muḥammad is not but a messenger. [Other] messengers have passed on before him. So if he was to die or be killed, would you turn back on your heels [to unbelief]? And he who turns back on his heels will never harm Allāh at all; but Allāh will reward the grateful.
Qur’an 3:144 · Saheeh InternationalOpen on quran.com ↗ (Saheeh International) says a messenger can die:
Muḥammad is not but a messenger. [Other] messengers have passed on before him. So if he was to die or be killed, would you turn back on your heels [to unbelief]? And he who turns back on his heels will never harm Allāh at all; but Allāh will reward the grateful.
Qur’an 3:144 · Saheeh International
Qur’an 46:9Say, "I am not something original among the messengers, nor do I know what will be done with me or with you. I only follow that which is revealed to me, and I am not but a clear warner."
Qur’an 46:9 · Saheeh InternationalOpen on quran.com ↗ (Saheeh International) has him say:
Say, “I am not something original among the messengers, nor do I know what will be done with me or with you. I only follow that which is revealed to me, and I am not but a clear warner.”
Qur’an 46:9 · Saheeh International
The Qur’an names him, names Badr, and gives this self-description. It does not tell his childhood. That story is in the later biography.
What the biography says
The life used by both Sunni and Shia readers is the sira of Ibn Ishaq, who died in 767 or 768. What we have is Ibn Hisham’s edition, from the next century. Watt’s Britannica article places that literature in the eighth and ninth centuries. It is a historical source, not a book of scripture. What are hadith and sira?
Ibn Ishaq, page 68 (A. Guillaume) says:
father died while his mother was still pregnant.
Ibn Ishaq, page 68
Ibn Ishaq, page 73 (A. Guillaume) says:
When the apostle was eight years of age, eight years after the ‘year of the elephant’, his grandfather died.
Ibn Ishaq, page 73
al-Tabari, volume 6, page 47 (Watt and McDonald) says:
The Messenger of God married Khadijah when he was twenty-five years old. At that time, Khadijah was forty years of age
al-Tabari, volume 6, page 47
Britannica dates the marriage to 595, the first recitation to about 610, the Hijra to 622, and the death to 8 June 632, when he was in his early sixties. How did Muhammad die? When was Islam founded?
Two branches, one man
Sunni and Shia Muslims share this Muhammad and this Qur’an. They divide on who should have led after he died. What is the difference between Sunni and Shia Islam?
Talking with a Sunni Muslim? Read what Sunni Muslims believe. Talking with a Shia Muslim? Read what Shia Muslims believe.
The Christian claim
John 1:1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:1 · King James Version says the Word was God. John 20:28And Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God.
John 20:28 · King James Version (King James Version) records Thomas before the risen Jesus:
And Thomas answered and said unto him, My LORD and my God.
John 20:28 · King James Version
Christians confess that Jesus. They do not confess Muhammad as a prophet sent after him. Was Jesus a Muslim? The Trinity
Reading order
- Who was Muhammad? (this page)
- How many wives did Muhammad have?
- How old was Aisha when she married Muhammad?
- What happened at the Battle of Badr?
- What happened to the Banu Qurayza?
- How did Muhammad die?
- What are hadith and sira?
- Which Muslims accept which hadith?
- What do Christians believe about Muhammad?
Related pages that are not in this order: Is Muhammad the prophet of Deuteronomy 18? and Is Muhammad the Paraclete?.
Frequently asked questions
Was Muhammad a prophet?
Muslims say yes. Qur’an 33:40Muḥammad is not the father of [any] one of your men, but [he is] the Messenger of Allāh and seal [i.e., last] of the prophets. And ever is Allāh, of all things, Knowing.
Qur’an 33:40 · Saheeh InternationalOpen on quran.com ↗ calls him the seal of the prophets. Christians say the Word was already God in John 1:1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:1 · King James Version, and they do not add a prophet after the crucified and risen Jesus.
When and where did he die?
Muslim reports say he died at sixty-three. Britannica dates that death to 8 June 632 in Medina. How did Muhammad die?
Did he write the Qur’an?
Muslims say he recited what God sent down. Qur’an 96:1–51 Recite in the name of your Lord who created
2 Created man from a clinging substance.
3 Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous -
4 Who taught by the pen
5 Taught man that which he knew not.
Qur’an 96:1-5 · Saheeh InternationalOpen on quran.com ↗ is the passage they place first. How was the Qur’an compiled?
References
- Qur’an, 33:40; 3:144; 33:21; 46:9
Muḥammad is not the father of [any] one of your men, but [he is] the Messenger of Allāh and seal [i.e., last] of the prophets. And ever is Allāh, of all things, Knowing.
Qur’an 33:40 · Saheeh InternationalOpen on quran.com ↗ (Saheeh International, as published on Quran.com. The link is the first passage, 33:40.) - Ibn Ishaq, Sirat Rasul Allah, translated by A. Guillaume, The Life of Muhammad, pp. 68 and 73 (Oxford University Press, 1955. Short sentences from the printed pages.)
- al-Tabari, The History of al-Tabari, volume 6, translated by W. Montgomery Watt and M. V. McDonald, p. 47 (State University of New York Press, 1988. The archive item is the set as linked. The quotation is volume 6, page 47.)
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, Muhammad, Biography (W. Montgomery Watt. Birth about 570 in Mecca, death on 8 June 632 in Medina, the Hijra in 622, and the call about 610.)
- Gospel of John, 1:1; 20:28
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
John 1:1 · King James Version. King James Version
See also
- How did Muhammad die? — Muslim sources say Muhammad died in Medina in 632, at sixty-three, and that in his last illness he still felt the poison from a sheep he had eaten at Khaybar.
- How many wives did Muhammad have? — The Qur’an permits Muhammad more wives than the four it allows other men. Muslim historians name Khadijah first, and Sunni hadith name Aisha among those who followed.
- How Old Was Aisha When She Married Muhammad? — In Sahih al-Bukhari and Sahih Muslim, Aisha says she was married at six and that the marriage was consummated at nine. Those reports also say she remained with him nine years, until his death at sixty-three.
- Is Muhammad the Paraclete or Ahmad? — Some Muslims hear Muhammad in Jesus' promise of the Comforter, and in the name Ahmad in Qur'an 61:6. John 14–16 says who that person is.
- Is Muhammad the Prophet of Deuteronomy 18? — Qur'an 7:157 says the unlettered prophet is written in the Torah and the Gospel. Deuteronomy 18 is the passage most often offered.